Improvement in feed-water apparatus



; UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

e. ADOLPH nrnnnn, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEED-WATER APPARATUS.

Specification ,forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,033, dated September 19, 1865; antedated May 11, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, G. ADOLPH RIEDEL, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedan Improved Self-Regnlatin g Wa tel-Feeder Ior Steam-Boil.

ers, with Pump or Injector; and I dohereby declare that the following is'a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making apart of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspectiveview ot' the feeder. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe same. Fig. S-is a side elevation of the valve-chest J.

Like letters in all the figures represent the same parts.

The nature of my" invention consists or a' self-regulating water-feeder for steam-boilers, with a pump or injector vor other similar device, being an improvement on the low-water indicator for steam-boilers for which a Patent line in the boiler, and the end of the pipe B extendssome distance below, so as to cause the water which falls from the pipeA to enter the water in the boiler near the bottom of the latter. g I

U is a receiver for the alternate reception of steam and water, as will be hereinafter described. The receiver surrounds the pipe A, and moves freelythereonby means of the stuffing-boxes c 0. There are holes (1 through the pipe A, by which a communication is eiiected between said pipe and the receiver 0, for the purpose of allowing steam and water to pass from the pipe to the receiver, and vice versa. There are holes cthrough the pipe B above the lower end of the pipe A for the admissio of steam into the said pipe B.

I) is a fitting on the upper end of pipe A, to which the lever E is attached by means of the fulcrum-pin f. The said lever is connected to the receiver 0 by means of the jointed rod F and upright G. It has combined with its outer end, 9, a ball or movable weight, H, which n' ovesfreel y between the parallel bars it, above and below, and the side bars, h, the same being permanently secured at one end to the extreme parts of the end 9 of the lever.

The movement'of the weight H is for the purpose of varying the effective power of the lever, it having the least power, as will be the greatest power when down and in the position represented by red lines in Fig. 1.

I is a rod attached at its upper end to the Fig. "1, yet it maybe attached to any other con venient part of the same. Thesaid rod is for the purp s of op gthe communication be tween the feed-pipe and the pump or injector, opening it when the receiver is rising, and closing it when the-same is falling.

A below the receiver 0. It has a valve, K, within it, whose stem 1' is pressed upon by the lower end of the receiver when the latter is in its lower position, by which the valve is closed; but when the waterisoutot' the receiver and the latter consequently moves upward, the valve, being thus relieved, is opened by'the force of the steam in the pipe A, which then passes out of the opening in the end of the chest J, and blows a whistle or otherwise gives an alarm. The red I and valve K may be used with one or more receivers, which have either a vertical or oscillating movement.

L is a blow-otf cock for the receiver 0.

the receiver 0 or leverE and at the other end to an index placed in an office or other convenient place, for the purpose of showing the condition of the water and steam in the boiler, the wire being operated by the upward and downward motions of the receiver or lever.

A steam or water pipe maybe connected with the fitting D, to force the water down into the boiler or condense the steam in the 'receiver U. 4

The operation is as followszlThe fitting cis screwed into a corresponding opening in the readily observed, when the weight is up, and,

upper end of the receiver 0, as representedin -J is a valve-chest, to be attached to the pipe A wire may be attached at one end to either upperv side of the boiler, so as to bring the receiver 0 until it is filled. Thereceiver, which holds one or more gallons, being thus increased in weight to the amount of the difference between the weight of the water which it now contains and the steam which previously filled it arid became condensed by the water, overcomes the force of the weighted lever E and descends into the position represented in Figs. 1 and 2; but when thewater in the boiler gets below the water-line the water in'the receiver assesdown the pipe A into the boiler, entermg the body of water at the lower end of the pipe B. As the receiver is thus emptied of the water it is filled with steam, which ascends the pipe A, first passing through the holese of the pipe B and down the annular space 0 to the lower end of the pipe A. The receivenbeing thus lightened according to the difierence between the weight of steam and the weight of water, is brought by'the force of the weighted lever E to its upward position, (indicated by red lines in Fig. 1.) In the downward motion of the outer end of the lever the'weight H passes to its extreme end,.as represented, and lncreases'the effective force of the same. In

the upward movement of the receiver the rod .1 opens communication between the teed-pipe and the. pump or injector until the boiler has been refilled above the water-line. The lower end of the pipeAbeing again brought into communication with the water in the boiler by the action of the steam, the receiver is again filled with water in like manner, as before, and

again descends'to its former position. As it commences descending the rod I closes the communication between the feed-pipe and the pump or injector, and so on successively, by

the'reciprocal action of the receiver 0, as be-- fore explained, the communication between the feed-pipe and the pump or injector is opened and out 0K to keep'a uniform depth of water in the boiler.

Having thus fully described my improvedself-regulating water-feeder for steam-boilers, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The vertical reciprocating receiver O,constructed,arran ged, and operatin gsubstantiall y as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the rodI with the receiver, for the purpose of opening and closing the communication between the feed-pipe and the pump or injector, substantially as described.

In testimony that the above is my inven-. tion I have. hereunto set my hand and afiixed my seal this 8th day of May, 1865.

G. ADOLPH nrnnnn. n 3.1

- :Witnesses:

STEPHEN USTICK, W. W. DoUeHnn'rY. 

